Myanmar declares two ethnic armed groups non-terrorist organisations

Hanoi (VNA) – The Myanmar
government on February 11 declared two ethnic armed groups to be non-terrorist
organisations, according to the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs.

This means the two groups, namely the New Mon
State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), were removed from the
list of unlawful organisations in Myanmar.

The declaration came when
the government is scheduled to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) with
the two armed groups in Nay Pyi Taw on February 13.

As members of the United
Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the NMSP and LDU will be the first two
armed groups to sign the NCA with the incumbent government led by the National
League for Democracy (NLD), bringing the total of such signatories to 10 since
the first signing on October 15, 2015.

Myanmar’s incumbent
government has held the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference twice in August
2016 and May 2017.

At the second conference,
the government and ethnic armed groups agreed on 37 principles for future
peaceful dialogues.-VNA